The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Aster plant, botanically known as Aster novi-belgii and referred to by the cultivar name Dark Milka.
The new Aster is a whole plant mutation of the commercial Aster novi-belgii cultivar Milka, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,602. The new Aster was discovered and selected by the Inventor in a controlled environment in Ter Aar, The Netherlands, as a single flowering plant among a population of plants of the parent cultivar Milka in June, 1994. This single plant consistently formed inflorescences having darker purple, 88A to 88B, ray florets compared to the lighter purple, 85A to 85C, ray florets of the cultivar Milka.
Asexual reproduction of the new Aster by terminal cuttings taken at Ter Aar, The Netherlands, has shown that the unique features of this new Aster are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Dark Milkaxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Dark Milkaxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Freely and uniform flowering.
2. Decorative inflorescence form with dark purple ray florets.
3. Good post-production longevity.
Plants of the new Aster can be compared to plants of the sibling cultivar Pink Milka (U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 09/263,152). Plants of the new Aster have narrowly elliptic and dark purple, 88A to 88B, ray florets whereas plants of the cultivar Pink Milka have narrowly obovate and light pink, 75C to 75D, ray florets.
Plants of the new Aster can also be compared to plants of the sibling cultivar Karmijn Milka (U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 09/263,153). Plants of the new Aster have darker purple ray florets than plants of the cultivar Karmijn Milka, 88A to 88B and 82B, respectively.
The cultivar Dark Milka has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.